Exploring Interactions Between Elementary Student Situational Engagement and Teacher Instructional Supports Over Time

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: Models, Strategies, and Interactions in Science Teaching and Learning (Table 7)

Abstract

How teacher-student interactions develop from moment-to-moment interactions during classes remains understudied. This study uses a mixed-methods explanatory design with insights from “Flow” theory, sociocultural theory, and complex dynamic systems theory to investigate how elementary student situational engagement ¬occurs in project-based science learning through tracking the interaction between teachers’ instructional supports and student situational engagement over a school year. Data from two Grade 3 teachers and their students (N=48) were analyzed. Through the State Space Grids analysis, the stability and change of the interactions indicate that the two teachers’ trajectories remained stable, but there were some variabilities. Results will be discussed around the promising approach to understanding the nature of student situational engagement in PBL classrooms.

Authors

• Tingting Li, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer A. Schmidt, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joseph S. Krajcik, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author